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Broncos win river rivalry 56-22

THOMAS — The Snake River Panthers Bret Parkinson had just scored on an 89 yard kick off return to pull the Panthers to within a score at 14-8 with 9:48 remaining in the first half on Friday evening.
Blackfoot put the kibosh on any thoughts of a Panther victory moments later however as they reeled off 21 points over the remainder of the second quarter on their way to a commanding 56-22 victory.
"Up front our offensive line did a good job and executed well," Blackfoot head coach Stan Buck said. "All week long in practice it was business as usual. We just try to come out and get better each day and tonight we got a couple of big plays, stayed focused and didn't have any confusion."

Big plays were certainly the them of the night as Blackfoot turned in several including the first score of the game when Colby Pearson tipped the ball into his own hands and then sprinted 57 yards down the sideline for the 6-0 Blackfoot lead midway through the first quarter.
Blackfoot's defense then turned in a big play when Ryan Murdoch blocked a Panther punt setting the offense up on the Panther 31 yard line.
Two minutes later Mitch Martin cashed in a 5 yard touchdown plunge up the middle and after a Kyler Haddon two point conversion, the Broncos led 14-0.
"You have to hand it to Blackfoot, they have so many playmakers and good players on that team that it's just hard to cover them all," Snake River head coach Jeff Dalley said. "I thought that we had had one of our better weeks of practice and these kids know each other so well and each of them have something to prove to the guy lined up across from them."
Snake River answered with the Parkinson kick return and a Wyatt Wray to Adrian Castaneda two point conversion and the standing room only crowd buckled themselves in for what was shaping up to be a classic barnburner between the long time rivals.
On the ensuing drive however, the Broncos pounded the ball down the field with their powerful running attack and four minutes later Martin scored his second touchdown of the evening from 8 yards out.
On the next offensive possession for the Panthers Blackfoot forced a fumble which was recovered by Tell Cottrell setting up the Bronco offense on Snake River's 32 yard line.
Blackfoot went for the jugular on the next play when Alonzo Ramos hit a streaking Colby Pearson in the corner of the end zone for a 32 yard touchdown pass and a 28-8 lead.
"Last week Century ran that cover two which kind of took away our deep passing game but tonight Snake River was running a single safety who was cheating to one side or another which left the back side open over the top," Ramos said.
Pearson finished the evening with 148 yards receiving on 8 catches for a pair of touchdowns but he was far from done as he put the Broncos up 35-8 with a 35 yard punt return with 3:06 remaining in the first half.
Ramos put a cap on his 13 for 14 passing performance midway through the third quarter when he hit Austin Campbell on a 23 yard touchdown strike to make the score 42-8 Blackfoot. For Ramos it was his third touchdown pass of the evening as he threw for 236 yards through the air.
"It's always scary to play Snake River," Ramos said. "You know that if you lose your going to hear about it forever. This win feels really good. This is a fun rivalry game. It has that old school feeling and if this is the last one between these two teams then it's special to finish it with a win."
Snake River were able to regain their footing with a pair of touchdowns in the second half as 5 yard Caleb Phillips run late in the third quarter and a 5 yard Kade Keller touchdown pass to Cole Hrabik with 0:06 remaining in the game.
Both teams will be back in action next Friday with Snake River (1-3) hosting Aberdeen and Blackfoot (3-0) hosting Preston. Both games are scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m.